Message in a Bottle
A chiming two-guitar arpeggio riff of wide-stretch ninth chords under a flanger's shimmer.
What is the Message in a Bottle guitar tone?
The Message in a Bottle guitar tone is a chiming two-guitar arpeggio riff of wide-stretch ninth chords under a flanger's shimmer, heard on The Police's 1970s new wave recording. It is a clean riff tone, and The Police reportedly tracked it with Andy Summers' heavily modded early-1960s Fender Telecaster, with a Gibson PAF humbucker in the neck position, a single-coil mounted straight to the body at the bridge, a brass bridge plate, a built-in preamp and a phase switch, the guitar he told Guitar World he used almost exclusively on stage and in the studio until Ghost in the Machine; the shimmer that many players take for a chorus pedal or his Roland JC-120 is an Electro-Harmonix Electric Mistress flanger, by Summers' own account, set so that it leans more towards chorus than flange, and the amp is not documented in these accounts; Sting brought the riff, which he had first tried in another song, and Summers embellished it, arpeggiating each chord as a three-note figure of its root, fifth and ninth, then layering a second guitar part over the first in the studio to make the chiming harmony; Summers says the stretches are so big that many players cannot manage the riff, and that on stage he has played the second chord, the A, with the open A string instead of the full added-ninth shape; the verse is in C sharp minor and the chorus moves to A major; the band recorded it at Surrey Sound Studios with Nigel Gray, with Stewart Copeland's drum track built from about six overdubbed parts, and it came out in September 1979 as the first single from Reggatta de Blanc, the Police's first UK number one. New wave guitar is mostly clean and bright, arpeggios and chord stabs with chorus or delay around them, so the amp's headroom and the modulation matter more than the gain.
You do not need that exact gear to land in the same place. What carries this sound is the gain structure, the EQ curve, the pickup choice and the order of the effects, and all four can be rebuilt on equipment that costs a fraction of the original. The numbers change from amp to amp, because a clean channel on a modelling combo and a small practice amp reach the same voicing from different knob positions. That translation is what Tonelify works out for the rig you actually own.
Message in a Bottle amp settings: a starting point
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 2, Bass 4, Middle 6, Treble 7, Presence 6, Reverb 3, with the neck or middle position.
- Gain 2
- Bass 4
- Middle 6
- Treble 7
- Presence 6
- Reverb 3
- Signal chain
- Electro-Harmonix Electric Mistress flanger, set closer to a chorus → A second guitar part layered over the first (studio)
- The control that matters most
- The flanger, set gently. Summers says the shimmer is an Electric Mistress flanger rather than a chorus, and that it leans towards chorus more than flange, so keep the rate slow and the depth and feedback low on a clean, bright amp. The record layers two guitar parts into a harmony, so one guitar sounds sparser, and the stretches are wide: Summers' own shortcut is to play the A chord with the open A string.
These positions are free and they are a starting point. A Katana, a Spark and a valve head reach this voicing from different knob positions, so Tonelify rewrites every value above for the amp and guitar you own. Your first match is free with an account, and needs no card.
Adapt these to my amp- Pickup
- Neck or middle position
These are positions on a generic five-knob amp with gain, bass, middle, treble and presence, each running 0 to 10. They are a starting point, not the settings used on the record, and they will not transfer unchanged to an amp with a different gain structure or EQ voicing. If you tell Tonelify which amp you own, it rewrites every value above for the controls that amp actually has.
What gear did The Police use on Message in a Bottle?
Andy Summers' heavily modded early-1960s Fender Telecaster, with a Gibson PAF humbucker in the neck position, a single-coil mounted straight to the body at the bridge, a brass bridge plate, a built-in preamp and a phase switch, the guitar he told Guitar World he used almost exclusively on stage and in the studio until Ghost in the Machine; the shimmer that many players take for a chorus pedal or his Roland JC-120 is an Electro-Harmonix Electric Mistress flanger, by Summers' own account, set so that it leans more towards chorus than flange, and the amp is not documented in these accounts; Sting brought the riff, which he had first tried in another song, and Summers embellished it, arpeggiating each chord as a three-note figure of its root, fifth and ninth, then layering a second guitar part over the first in the studio to make the chiming harmony; Summers says the stretches are so big that many players cannot manage the riff, and that on stage he has played the second chord, the A, with the open A string instead of the full added-ninth shape; the verse is in C sharp minor and the chorus moves to A major; the band recorded it at Surrey Sound Studios with Nigel Gray, with Stewart Copeland's drum track built from about six overdubbed parts, and it came out in September 1979 as the first single from Reggatta de Blanc, the Police's first UK number one.
Sources: Guitar Player: Andy Summers on Message in a Bottle and the Police's biggest guitar riff, Wikipedia: Message in a Bottle (The Police song)
Tonelify reads that chain and translates it to the amp and guitar you already own, returning gain, bass, mids, treble and presence values along with a pickup position.
How do you get the Message in a Bottle tone on your own amp?
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Message in a Bottle tone questions
What amp settings do you need for Message in a Bottle?
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 2, Bass 4, Middle 6, Treble 7, Presence 6, Reverb 3, with the neck or middle position. These are positions on a generic five-knob amp with gain, bass, middle, treble and presence, each running 0 to 10. They are a starting point, not the settings used on the record, and they will not transfer unchanged to an amp with a different gain structure or EQ voicing. Tonelify rewrites the same values for the specific amp and guitar you own, because a high-gain head and a small solid-state combo reach the same chiming two-guitar arpeggio riff of wide-stretch ninth chords under a flanger's shimmer from different positions.
What is the most important control for the Message in a Bottle tone?
The flanger, set gently. Summers says the shimmer is an Electric Mistress flanger rather than a chorus, and that it leans towards chorus more than flange, so keep the rate slow and the depth and feedback low on a clean, bright amp. The record layers two guitar parts into a harmony, so one guitar sounds sparser, and the stretches are wide: Summers' own shortcut is to play the A chord with the open A string.
Can you get the Message in a Bottle tone without the original gear?
Yes. The original was tracked with Andy Summers' heavily modded early-1960s Fender Telecaster, with a Gibson PAF humbucker in the neck position, a single-coil mounted straight to the body at the bridge, a brass bridge plate, a built-in preamp and a phase switch, the guitar he told Guitar World he used almost exclusively on stage and in the studio until Ghost in the Machine; the shimmer that many players take for a chorus pedal or his Roland JC-120 is an Electro-Harmonix Electric Mistress flanger, by Summers' own account, set so that it leans more towards chorus than flange, and the amp is not documented in these accounts; Sting brought the riff, which he had first tried in another song, and Summers embellished it, arpeggiating each chord as a three-note figure of its root, fifth and ninth, then layering a second guitar part over the first in the studio to make the chiming harmony; Summers says the stretches are so big that many players cannot manage the riff, and that on stage he has played the second chord, the A, with the open A string instead of the full added-ninth shape; the verse is in C sharp minor and the chorus moves to A major; the band recorded it at Surrey Sound Studios with Nigel Gray, with Stewart Copeland's drum track built from about six overdubbed parts, and it came out in September 1979 as the first single from Reggatta de Blanc, the Police's first UK number one, but the parts that define the sound are the gain structure, the EQ curve, the pickup position and the effects order. Those translate to other equipment, which is what the adaptation step does.
Is Message in a Bottle a rhythm or a lead tone?
It is a riff part with a clean character, from The Police's 1970s new wave catalogue.
Does Tonelify cost anything to try?
Your first match for your own gear is free with an account, and needs no card. After that both plans start with a 7-day free trial: Stage is $6.99 a month for 20 matches, Headliner is $10.99 a month for unlimited matching within a fair use limit of 150 new matches a day, and yearly billing works out cheaper on both. Reading this page and the rest of the library costs nothing and needs no account.
